Where In Time Is Saffron?
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: Game canon, but readable and enjoyable if you haven't played it. Saffron Sunny Gold loves all Carmen Sandiego-related TV shows, so she buys the game "Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego". But she wasn't expecting to be pulled into ACME's world. Review!
1. Prologue

**A/N: Plot bunnies suck, right? Another computer game story. I may write Carmen a little more "Where On Earth..." if possible. It's a novelized version of the game "Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego" or "Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time". Basically twelve-year-old Saffron Gold loves the TV shows, so when she finds the computer game, she buys it. However, she is pulled into the game, and she's a real ACME agent. Even if you're unfamilar with the game canon, this should still be readable, and hopefully enjoyable. Please review!**

_Saffron slotted a disc into her computer. She had just bought the game "Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego". She'd watched the 90s cartoon based on the (fictional) master thief by that name and had loved it, liking that for all Carmen's stealing, she had serious morals and seemed to genuinely have concern when her detectives were in trouble._

"_Why does Carmen have brown hair in this?" Saffron wondered out loud as the game installed and began. In the cartoon She watched as there was an explanation and credits. Apparently, Carmen had stolen the Chronoskimmer and sent her people from her organization, VILE, to steal various items through history. "Huh, that doesn't sound like Carmen." muttered Saffron as the Chief from this version talked – an African-American woman with a serious face, acted by the late Lynne Thigpen._

"_You must follow the thieves' trails through the time tunnels and retrieve the objects they have stolen." the Chief said. She pointed to the right. "There's the time portal. Jump in and I'll give you more details as you travel. It's take-off, Time Pilot!"_

_Saffron grinned. "This game sounds pretty cool." But then she frowned a little. "But it sounds like I won't be seeing much of Carmen – not the Carmen I'm familiar with, anyway. She sounds so – stereotyped, like an evil one-dimensional character. The Carmen I know would be so much more interesting."_

_However, her disappointment in Carmen couldn't completely dampen her spirits, and Saffron couldn't wait to play the game. She clicked on the swirling time portal, but first, a box popped up, asking for her name._

_She typed her full name, including her middle name, "Saffron Sunny Gold", although she grimaced at the yellow theme. Then, the screen cut to black for a moment, then she saw the grey of the spiralling tunnel. It wasn't staying on the screen, though. It swirled out, pulling Saffron up. She gave a squeal of fear as she was suspended in the air, then sucked right through the computer screen._

**That was just a short prologue. The next chapter will be centered on Case 1. Sorry, but the only canon character from the cartoon will be Carmen. I wish I could include the detectives, but they don't appear in the game. However, they do make several appearances in my other game-cartoon crossover "Enchanting Pixie" about Carmen's daughter. And please, REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 1

**OK, here's the first case. Enjoy! (This chapter and other ones after that will be written in Saffron's POV.)**

I was in the time portal for real, suspended hovering in mid air. But I wasn't scared of heights, and once I had got my bearings, I quickly caught on about where I was and what was happening. It looked like I'd just have to play along, for now.

The Chief's face appeared. "When you're here in the portal, I can talk to you, but once you're in the past, I'll be out of the contact." She looked like she was about to laugh, and I smiled at the fact that her serious demeanor had cracked. "In fact, I won't even be born yet, but don't worry. I'll send along an ACME Good Guide to help you." I momentarily wondered what Good Guides were (they were never in the cartoons, were they), but the Chief was now telling me about my first case in Ancient Egypt. "Queen Hatshepsut should have taken the throne by now, but it hasn't happened. Find out why!"

A dark-skinned young woman who looked Asian was suddenly hovering beside me. She gave me a reassuring smile. "Here's Ann Tickwitee now." the Chief said. "She's got your Chronopedia and your ACME Time Cuffs. Carmen always leaves a note, telling her crooks where to hide, so collect any note scraps you can find." The Chief again reminded me how serious this was ("If this was actually real" I thought to herself) and with that, I was standing next to a boat on the Nile.

The young Asian woman appeared beside me. "Wow, time travelling always gives me a head rush." she exclaimed with a giggle. "Cool!"

I smiled a little. "Hi."

"Hey there, Pilot...Saffron, was it?" was the answer. "I'm Ann Tickwitee, as you know, your Good Guide...for this mission, anyway. We're in Ancient Egypt, 1490 BC. That's over three thousand years backwards in time!" She gestured towards the man on the boat. "We better get investigating. Just talk to the boatman over there. We have to talk to people to work out what to do. Oh, and I'm here to help. If you get stuck, you can ask me for advice anytime."

I nodded and said "OK, right. Thanks. By the way, you don't have to call me Pilot, I'm just Saffron."

Ann smiled back. "Right. I don't use formalities much. ACME's not always like that, because everyone knows everyone. So we just use each other's first names."

I began to like Ann. "She's nice." I thought. I was only twelve, and that betrayed one reason why I liked Ann. She treated me like an equal. Like wec were friends and coworkers. Maybe that's how it was in this world – after all, ACME was united in their aim to catch thieves, so even if the agent was a pre-teen or a child, they'd be treated as an equal by older members of ACME.

First, they found out from the boatman that someone had stolen the Book Of The Dead, and Queen Hatshepsut couldn't mummify and bury her husband without it, entrusting his safety in the afterlife. I made sure to stay polite, but on the inside I was uncontrollably laughing at the superstitious people of the time. The boatman was happy to take Ann and I to Hatshepsut's temple, and even gave us one of his spare torches, due to the fact that it was sunset, and we would arrive at night.

"We don't have to leave straightaway." Ann said. "Take a look around if you want. When you're done, let the boatman know we're ready to go."

"I'm ready." I said. "What about you?"

Ann laughed. "You'll find that none of us Good Guides mind. We read up on History and Geography so much, it's like we live in these time periods!"

"OK, let's go then." I said cheerfully, beginning to feel like this could be fun, even in real life. However, I was anxious about it. I'd have to play along until I figured out how to get out of here. The boatman took us across the Nile. As he paddled with the oars, I confessed to Ann "I feel a little nervous about this. What if I screw up?" After all, now the game was reality.

"All agents make mistakes." Ann told me. "But none of them are non-fixable. If you go wrong, you start again. In the end, you'll succeed."

I felt reassured. "So how many Good Guides are there?" I asked. "What are they like?"

"Eight." answered Ann. "But only five of them deal in history and missions like these. There's me of course, then there's...Ivan Idea, Rock Solid, Renee Santz and Polly Tix. They're all pretty friendly and helpful. If the problems created are to do with inventions, then Ivan'll probably be your Good Guide for that mission. Rock works with nature and unknown realms. Renee specializes in the Arts, and even though Polly's seventeen, the youngest of us, she knows practically all there is to know about global politics."

I nodded, trying to take it all in.

We soon arrived at Queen Hatshepsut's temple. I held the torch. The boatman was right – we needed it. Then I noticed a scrap of paper on the ground.

"Didn't the Chief say Carmen gave her thieves notes?" I whispered to Ann, pointing to the scrap.

Ann smiled and nodded. "That is probably a shred of the note. Whoever it is always rips. We'll have to decode it once we've found all the pieces."

I picked the paper up and read "_Dig a perfect hiding place in a pharaoh's resting space. _This doesn't help."

"It'll make sense once we find the rest of the note." Ann explained. "Anyway, shouldn't we talk to the queen?"

I glanced at Hatshepsut, who was standing nearby, dressed in a beautiful white dress and wearing a fake...beard? In spite of the beard, she seemed so exotic and cool that I almost felt afraid to. "She intimidates me." I confessed. Heights and being pulled into computer games I can handle, but talking to monarchs and super-confident people throws me.

Ann shrugged and addressed her. "Excuse me, Queen Hatshepsut?"

The queen looked at us. "Good day, travellers." she said quietly. "Have you come to offer aid?"

I got up my courage, and asked her questions politely. She pretty much confirmed what we'd already heard about the Book Of The Dead being stolen, and her husband being unable to go safely to the afterlife without it. She suggested that we could help by helping the head priest to mummify the previous pharaoh, her husband. She also explained why she was wearing a beard. It wasn't a dress she was wearing – the laws were that if she ruled, she must dress and be addressed as a man.

"We would be honoured to." I told her respectfully.

**Looks like the cases will be split! Whatever. Saffron has a long way to go yet. She is nervous around people who seem out of her league, but not too worried about strange happenings. REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Case 1 will finish here. I hope you like it.**

**Saffron: Hey, wait a second. Disclaimer?**

**Me: Oh, I didn't forget, I...whatever. The only thing I own is Saffron Sunny Gold and this story. Thanks for reviewing, aptasi. There will be a mix of the game and my own plot as the game continues and afterwards.**

Ann and I walked to the chamber, where the head priest, wearing a jackal's mask, was waiting, with the pharaoh ready to be mummified. He greeted us enthusiastically, and I found him more approachable than "His" Majesty. He told us that he needed help, and that we could find the instructions in the tomb next door. He couldn't go, being the head. "But you scruffy-looking visitors look perfect for the search."

I scowled at him and whispered to Ann "Of all the nerve!"

"Don't forget, it's the past." she whispered back. I glanced down at my clothes. I was wearing blue jeans with cherries on the pockets and a pink T-shirt with "Popular" on it. Ann wore a green blouse and green waistcoat with brown slacks.

We went to the tomb anyway, and used the torch to find the instructions, in the form of hieroglyphs. We also found another piece of Carmen's note: "Seek out a form to hide behind,"

"Still not helping." I muttered. "So what do the hieroglyphs mean?"

"We better get out of the tomb and see if we can find others." Ann suggested.

We found matching symbols on the jars in the other room. Oil was first, then bandages, and finally the golden mask.

"Praise the gods, that's a wrap!" cried the head priest. "We still need the Book Of The Dead, but for now let's move the mummy to the final burial chamber."

Soon, Ann and I were right there, by ourselves. I couldn't restrain myself from squealing "I can't believe I did it! I helped mummify an actual pharaoh!"

Ann laughed at my excitement. "Saffron, just calm down, OK? We've still got a thief to catch – and look!" She picked up one more scrap of paper. "It's the last piece of Carmen's note!"

I read it. "So the whole thing says "_Dig a perfect hiding place, near a pharaoh's resting space. Seek out a form to hide behind...the king of gods will do just fine."_

"There are forms right over there." Ann pointed to them. "I've got the Time Cuffs powered up. Do you need the Chronopedia to know which one is the King of the Gods?"

I thought back to English class. "No, we did Egyptian Mythology in my English class a couple years ago. We're looking for Amun Re, who's in the middle."

"Bulls eye!" Ann agreed. "The Egyptian sun god." She calmly walked over to the form and cuffed a man in a knight suit. "This case is sealed shut." she grinned. "Sir Vile is under wraps, and the Book of the Dead is back on track!" With that, we and Sir Vile were whisked back to the time tunnels.

"Good work, Saffron." Ann whispered to me. "I'll see you on the next mission I'm called for. I'm just gonna send this one to jail." Then she addressed Sir Vile in a harsh tone, which I'd never expect from the friendly and seemingly-gentle softly spoken Good Guide. "Let's go, Sir Vile. We've got a nice bare ACME cell for you, where you can kick back and _rust_."

"You have put the lid on my dark deeds for now, ACME agents, but you shall never seal my amoured coat!" Sir Vile snarled right back at her, giving an evil laugh.

The Chief congratulated me cheerfully, though still seriously masked. "I salute you. Thanks to you, Egyptian history is restored!" she informed me. "Great job! There's another case ahead if you want to take it. Ready to get right back to work, Pilot Saffron?"

There were two ways the first case could've taken me. I could either be completely exhausted, or so ready for action, I just had to take on another case. It was definitely the latter.

"I'll take on another case right now, since it's there." I said decidedly.

The Chief nodded. "That's good. We need everything done as soon as possible."

It took a few seconds before she said "Tie on your toga, Time Pilot Saffron. This time tunnel terminates in Ancient Rome, during Julius Caesar's reign. For some reason, Rome's amazing water system is completely dry. You'd better find out why." This time, the Good Guide was a blond boy, probably not much older than me. "This case calls for a master engineer." the Chief said. "That's why I'm sending along ACME's inventor extraordinaire, Ivan Idea, as your Good Guide. He's got your Time Cuffs, and your next Chronopedia chapter. Good luck with the case, Time Pilot, and...dip a toe in the pool if you get a chance."

With that, I was sent flying to the next case.

**This case will be begun in the next chapter. Sorry about this one being short. Review. Saffron would love it, and she begs you.**

**Saffron: Carmen gets reviews, doesn't she? So what about me?**

**Me: Saffron, if Carmen got a murderer as a present-**

**Saffron: Can I have a murderer too? If Carmen has one...**

**Me: Saffy, you're totally crazy.**

**Saffron: You made me that way, you know. So REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 3

**OK, enjoy the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing, aptasi, and Saffron's T-shirt is kind of because I wanted it myself.**

I stood in a place full of marble pillars. A dark-haired man in a toga was standing nearby. Next thing, I knew, my Good Guide was standing next to me.

"Hey there, Pilot Saffron – may I call you Saffron?" he said enthusiastically. "As you already know, I'm your Good Guide, Ivan Idea! Can you believe we're really here in Ancient Rome? That's Julius Caesar right over there. Wonder why he looks so wiped out?"

Julius noticed us and said "Hail, strangers, lend me your ears! Some wretched renegade has stolen the Forum, and vandalized our great city's plumbing in the bargain."

"We better have a word with Caesar and see what's up, huh?" said Ivan.

Sometimes I couldn't understand people that were so perky all the time. Or people that were moody all the time. In short, my pet peeve was people that were always always always positive or always always always negative. But Ivan seemed like a good guy, in spite of his perkyness.

"Wait a sec!" I said, spotting the first piece of the note to Carmen's crook. I picked it up.

"Too much!" Ivan exclaimed. "Take a look at that Carmen note!"

"_When in Rome, do as Romans do, and when you have a chance – steal the Forum too! _Well, that makes a lot of sense." I said with a sigh. "Do you know why Carmen's notes are so cryptic?"

Ivan shrugged. "Search me. I'd like to know, but then it's no big deal, cause we can decode it, right?"

"Could you quit being so perky?" I burst out before I could stop myself.

However, Ivan didn't seem to take offense. "Oh, sorry, I just get all happy cause I love going to all these time periods. Anyway, we better talk to Caesar."

"How do I address him?" I asked quickly. "He's kind of hard to approach."

Ivan didn't seem too bothered, and just addressed Julius casually. Basically, what he told us was that the Forum was stolen and the plumbing needed to be fixed.

"Can we help?" I asked carefully.

"I thought you'd never ask." Julius answered. "Go find my head plumber, who is working below the streets of Rome. He could certainly use your help."

"Guess that's our cue." Ivan said. "C'mon, Saffron."

We went up to the Roman public baths, where a man was waiting for the pipes to be fixed. He directed us to the right place, where we found the blonde head plumber. "Hail, friends, I could really use a hand." said the plumber in an anxious tone.

"I guess all we have to do is reattach the pipes, right?" I said.

"That's right." said the head plumber. "You may look young, but you catch on fast."

"We have a job to do. Just talk to me if you need help." said Ivan. He mimed leaning against the wall and reading the Chronopedia.

"Aren't you going to help me actively?" I demanded.

Ivan laughed. "I was just teasing you. I'm here to offer help and advice, so of course I'll help you."

"Well, could you tell me what the words on the pipes mean?" I asked.

"Well," said Ivan, "That's bath, that must be fresh water..."

"Wait a second!" I screeched, having picked up a pipe and discovered something. "I've found another piece of Carmen's note! It says '_then while the people take a tonic in the public baths'."_

Ivan gave me a thumbs up. "OK." He told me the rest of the words, and I had a go at fitting the pipes. Ivan helped the head plumber pump the water, and I had a look at the top.

Water was flowing all right, but not fresh water.

The bath man caught sight of me and exclaimed "Ugh! What happened down there? This bath water is vile!"

"Sorry." I said quickly and climbed back down. "Problem." I explained. "Let me see..." I caught sight of what must've been wrong, and realized that screwing up wasn't such a big deal after all. "Oh! The latrine water went up instead of down! We need the one-way pipe and this pipe switched."

Sure enough, the plumbing worked perfectly when I was back up, and the bath man found the last shred of Carmen's note.

"_Use some marble, quite ionic, to hide from Caesar's wrath!" _I read. "So whoever it is is hiding behind ionic marble?"

Ivan gave a nod. "I'm charging up the Time Cuffs, ready to grab our thief."

When we got back to Caesar, he announced he was hosting a toga party to thank us for fixing the plumbing.

"My first toga party!" Ivan exclaimed. "Stoked!" I nudged him and he said "Oh, almost forgot. We're here to catch a thief. Sorry, Caesar, we'll have to catch your party some other time."

Once Caesar was gone, he said with a teasing grin "That move was so much like a little sister."

"That's weird," I said playfully, "Because you kind of act like an big brother." We both laughed, even though we were serious about it. It was definitely a different way than how I'd related with Ann. I'd kind of looked up to her, and she was kind of more of a mentor. Ivan was definitely more of the older brother type, teasing me a bit, but friendly and fun too.

"Ionic marble..." I mused. "Got the Chronopedia chapter?" Ivan tossed it to me, and I found the picture of ionic marble. "It's there." I said, pointing.

"Super deducing!" Ivan said. "With a little help from the chronopedia, oh, make that a lot..." he teased, "You chose the right column." He immediately cuffed the curly haired thief. "We've cracked the case and captured the diabolical Dr Belljar." he said, and then we were sent back.

**OK, I've been working hard on this chapter, so maybe you could review for me?**


	5. Chapter 4

**Next up, Vikings!**

"Tough luck, Belljar." Ivan said, still cheerfully. "Your formula for fiendishness have failed."

"You may have pulled the plug on my pranks, but Carmen won't keep me short-circuited for long!" cackled Belljar.

Ivan went to throw him into the cells, tossing me a grin and a "See you soon, 'little sis'."

The Chief, however, was ecstatic, and even promoted me from Pilot to Scout. "Now you'll have something to scout about! There's a new case just up ahead. Can you take it on right now? I'll understand if you would prefer to spend a night in the headquarters before going on your third mission."

"Thank you." I yawned, realizing how tired I really was. "I think I'll have to take it tomorrow, if that's fine."

"Of course." said the Chief. "We even have a room for agents that have to stay in ACME headquarters overnight."

I was surprised to find the girls' overnight room was like a dorm, and the bed nearest to the door had _my _pyjamas lying on it. There was a couple of other girls staying there; a brunette who was much older than me, saying she mostly chased crooks around the world. The other girl was about eighteen, with red hair...green eyes...it wasn't...

"I'm Ivy." she said. It was!

"I think I know you." I said. "Don't you work with a different part of ACME?"

Ivy frowned. "Yes. How did you know? My Chief sent me in as a back-up if there are problems with Carmen while you're after her crooks."

"I know about the other branches of ACME." I lied quickly. "You and your brother are pretty famous."

Ivy gave a smile in spite of herself.

We were woken up early the next morning, meant to get breakfast and get ready in an hour. I did so, then ran off to the time portal, ready to take my next mission. I felt much more energized than I had the day before. "Your next stop in time is the eleventh century." the Chief said. "You'll land in Vinland. You know it as North America, but no one will call it that for another 500 years. Leif Eriksson and his band of Vikings should have departed for Greenland by now, but they're going nowhere fast. Find out what's holding them up."

I hovered in the time tunnels, waiting for my next Good Guide. This one was a muscly but friendly looking man. "I'm sending Rock Solid to be your Good Guide." the Chief said. "Rock's an expert explorer, and in the wilderness of Vinland, that's just what you'll need. He's got your Time Cuffs, and another Chronopedia chapter. Good luck scouting, Time Scout Saffron!"

Then I disappeared into a whirlpool and landed in Vinland. Rock landed beside me and looked around.

"Hey." I said shyly. Rock towered above me, making me feel a little intimidated. But he grinned at me in a friendly way.

"Hey, Saffron. This must be where the Vikings landed in North America in 1002. But the Vikings should've sailed home by now. We better find out what went wrong."

"Hey, is that Leif?" I asked, seeing a young man rummaging in a little boat. At that moment, a ship waiting sailed off, and the man screamed in frustration. "My ship!" he exclaimed. "A scoundrel's run off with my poor ship! It's almost reached the horizon!"

"I guess it is, huh?" I whispered to Rock. He smiled and nodded, both of us chuckling silently at Leif's comically devastated reaction. However, I got over my laughs enough to ask him enough to know that he was who I'd thought. He wanted to summon his crew for a type of assembly of Norsemen (I guessed that was what Vikings were at the time) which they called a Thing to work out what to do about the stolen ship.

"Can we help?" I asked. I sort of knew what he was going to ask us to do, but it was a game, even if it was a reality at that moment, so I had to ask.

"Well, I have to watch the ship, but you could summon my crew for a Thing." he suggested.

"OK, looks like we're going to be searching for a looooong time." I sighed. "How many people are we looking for?"

"Three." Leif answered.

"Well, I guess we'll see you soon." I said. "Let's go."

"Hurry back." Leif said as Rock and I left the beach.

"Remember, just ask me if you need any help." Rock said helpfully.

"I've heard that three times now." I said. "Does every Good Guide say that?"

"We are kind of required to say that." Rock answered. "Not that I knew everyone said the exact same thing as me." I laughed.

We did find three people, but they were all unable to go to the shore to attend the Thing. Tyrkir the Southerner had found himself stuck on a rock in the middle of a lake after overbalancing a bough which he tried to get grapes from. For some reason, he couldn't swim, and was too scared to go on the unsteady stepping stones. Ivor the Blacksmith wouldn't go until he had some silver to finish off his sword, and Olaf the Runemaker refused to leave without flattening a rock so he could carve out his runes. However, we did find two pieces of Carmen's note addressed to a "Baron".

The flipside was that there was some silver at the riverside. We gave that to Ivor and he finished his sword, then ran back down to the beach to join Leif.

"How can we help Olaf flatten his rock and tempt Tyrkir onto the riverbank?" I wondered. "If we could somehow break the boulder flat, than we could..."

"There's a pickaxe on Ivor's wall." Rock said. "It would probably be OK with him if we borrowed it. There was a stump keeping Olaf's boulder up."

We did manage to break the boulder by making it fall down the mountain. Olaf was thrilled. "This boulder's broken flat!" he exclaimed. "At last, I can carve out my runes!"

"Will you go to the shore for Leif's Thing then?" I asked.

"Of course I will!" he said, and true to his word, he set off.

"There's just Tyrkir to worry about." I said. Then I glanced up. There were a bunch of grapes, and Tyrkir had gotten into the predicament by trying to get grapes...

"Rock, can you reach those grapes up there?" I asked. "I'm way too small."

Rock stood onto the untouched half of the boulder and picked the grapes. "A Rock on a rock is just what we needed." he laughed. "Let me guess...you did use the word 'tempt', right? So that is what'll tempt Tyrkir onto the riverbank?"

I nodded with a grin.

It worked like a charm, and once Tyrkir was safely on the riverbank, he almost ran to the shore to join the Thing. Rock and I followed, but there was a tie in the decision. Ivor and Tyrkir wanted to stay, and Leif and Olaf were determined to reclaim their ship.

"Do you think we should say something?" Rock asked.

"To break their vote?" I asked. "Uh-huh. Leif, will you let us join the vote?"

Leif frowned. "Only worthy Norsemen can vote in a Thing. You are not Norsemen like us." He looked at me. "Besides, you are a girl, a child, in fact."

I scowled at him. "Why, you-" I began. Yes, monarchs were intimidating, but Leif Eriksson, Leif the Lucky didn't scare me in the slightest, even though he was a Viking. Yes, I was like that. Yes, I had an irrational sense of fear.

"We are worthy Norsemen in spirit." Rock interrupted.

"That's quite a claim." Lief said. "You must prove it. But even if you do, your younger friend must not vote. No Norseman of worth would include a girl in a Thing, or, in fact, put her in a situation of such crucial importance."

I folded my arms, and scowled, but said nothing. I waited as Leif asked Rock a couple of questions, which he answered correctly.

"You must be a Norseman after all." Leif decided. "We'd be honoured if you'd vote in the Thing." Rock put his vote to reclaim the ship, where we decoded all the pieces of Carmen's note.

"She said that he must hide in the modern word for starboard." I said. "And that is...there." I pointed to the steerboard.

Rock gave a nod. "That's right! He's definitely hiding there." He dived further down and soon had the Baron cuffed. We were soon back in the time tunnels.

**The end of that chapter. Ugh, that is one of my least favourite cases. But one of my favourite Good Guides is in the next mission. REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 5

**OK, let's continue. Also, Carmen is in this chapter.**

You know the drill. Rock complimented me on the job, then took Baron to the ACME cells. Then the Chief congratulated me on helping the Vikings reclaim their ship. Oh yeah, and Rock had some grapes left, so he gave them to her, which she seemed very happy to have. After congratulating me, Rock handed her the grapes, and she actually did smile as she said "Oh, thanks, Rock." She also seemed to have a light blush. I wondered if there was something going on.

But then something else happened. "Well, Time Scout Saffron, you're quite an opponent." said a suspiciously smooth voice. "You apprehended the Baron, but there's no way you'll foil my next foray. It's already under way."

"Carmen!" I gasped, a little scared. I loved her character in the TV show, but she was super-confident and the thought of working against her was terrifying. I hadn't thought about it before, but it was. "Are you doing this out of boredom this time, or what?"

Carmen's voice again answered "Not this time. It is much more important than mere fun. Ta ta."

The Chief appeared again. "Sounds like the time crime wave is continuing. There's another history mystery ready to be solved straight ahead. Are you ready to take on the case?"

"I'm ready, Chief." I said.

"Right. You're not going too far down the years, but now you are going from the wilderness to high culture – the kingdom of Japan. Murasaki Shikibu should be writing the world's first novel by now, but her pages are blank. Go seek out the source of her writers' block."

The fourth Good Guide was black, a short-haired woman with a friendly face dressed in green and yellow. "I'll be sending along ACME's most artistically gifted Good Guide, Renee Santz." the Chief said. I glanced at Renee again and she smiled. I grinned back.

"She has your Time Cuffs, your next Chronopedia chapter, and all the culture you could ask for." the Chief continued. "Hope you look good in a kimono, Time Scout Saffron. Best of luck!"

And I was thrown into Murasaki's room. Renee appeared next to me.

"Welcome to Heian-era Japan, Saffron!" she said with a smile. "It's night time, and over there is Murasaki Shikibu. She should have been writing her famous novel, _The Tale Of Genji._ But her creative sizzle has fizzled!"

"I wonder why?" I whispered, glancing at the sad-looking Japanese woman.

"We better track down what's troubling Murasaki, and get her writing again." Renee answered.

I shyly addressed Murasaki, asking her if I could help. She said that someone had stolen her first chapter, and her inspiration was gone, because she couldn't see the moon. "Perhaps if you study the other rooms close by, you will have cause for reflection." she suggested.

"What?" I said, not understanding.

"I think she means that they have mirrors so we can deflect the moon's light from the mirrors straight to her room." Renee answered.

"But you will have to wear kimonos to fit in." Murasaki added. "Your curious clothing will cause a court scandal otherwise."

Suddenly, I spotted a scrap of paper on the shelf, with English words on it. "Renee, look!" I exclaimed.

Renee gave me a thumbs up. "Good work, Saffron, that's part of a Carmen Note." It said _Hide your sneaky self in a fabric soft and bright._

"I guess that we'll have to put on kimonos before doing anything else, though." I sighed.

"Go to my closet." suggested Murasaki kindly.

Renee and I both tried kimonos on. I giggled a bit at first, and struck a pose. "How do I look?"

"Oh, definitely ready to hit the Tokyo town." Renee joked. "Look at my one. I could totally be a supermodel!"

"With that poise, definitely!" I said, and we both started laughing. Renee was probably the oldest Good Guide I'd encountered, in her thirties, but it was like we were the same age, just two girls having fun and dressing up.

hen we went to the first of the four rooms up, which the moon already lit. There was a guard there, who said it was the summer room. By lucky chance, I had dressed in the right kimono and lining, so he let me adjust the mirror. But we still had to adjust the mirror of the autumn room, the winter room, and the spring room, and we had to dress differently to go to each.

It was only when we went to the winter room when we found a second piece of the Carmen Note. The guard had seen the thief. "She stumbled over my kotatsu. And as if hitting my heater wasn't enough, she also tossed this litter on the ground!" mentioned hiding in a sign of the zodiac.

It took ages to adjust all the mirrors. Even worse, we discovered afterwards that Murasaki had written some haikus which could've told us what lining we needed for each room. Even so, it was quite rewarding to see Murasaki become inspired and smile, since she had been so sad when we first met.

We went back to the closet to change into our regular clothes before searching for the thief. It was a good thing that the light of the moon illuminated the last part of the Carmen Note, or as Renee called it, the C-Note.

"So the first bit mentions the kimonos, so it's in this room, I think." I said. "What do you think, Renee?"

"You're right." Renee said with a smile. "And the zodiac drawers in here are referred to."

"_Whiskers and naked tail_..." I quoted from the third piece of the note. "There are twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac. So that would have to be a mouse or rat, right? So which characters are they?"

"By the way, that script is called Hiragana." Renee told me. "Here's the chronopedia."

I looked it up, and found 'rat' written in hiragana. "Here it is!" I said, pointing to the drawer.

Renee nodded with a smile. "Yes, that's the one." She pulled out and cuffed a powder-faced woman. "Medeva's the last evil diva that'll ever darken these doorways." she said, just as we were sent straight back to the time tunnels.

"It's back to ACME headquarters for you, Medeva." Renee said, "For a long spell in solitary."

"Don't think you'll keep me under wraps for long, agents." sneered Medeva. "I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Good work, Saffron." Renee whispered. "I'll see you on my next mission." She smiled at me and went off to put Medeva in jail.

"Terrific tracking, Time Scout Saffron!" exclaimed the Chief. "Thanks to you, Medeva's in a cell, and Murasaki is moonlighting her way into history." Then her face became stony serious. "Another case is coming up fast. Will you take it on?"

I had enough energy for another mission, and I was hoping I'd be able to meet the last Good Guide. I liked the first four of them, so the fifth had to be just as nice, right?

**I can't wait to do the next mission! Sorry about the lack of detail, but the last couple of cases aren't very interesting. The next one is errands, sure, but Polly Tix is one of my favourite characters. Remember to review! I know people are reading this, so could you please review?**


	7. Chapter 6

**Up to Mission 5! Read on and enjoy!**

"We're whizzing down the years to feudal England in the ninth century." the Chief told me regarding the new mission. I wished I knew more about these times, because so far I'd had to get most of my information from the Good Guides or chronopedia, with the exception of the first mission. "By now, William the Conqueror should be done conquering and on his way to kinghood," the Chief continued, "But he isn't, and something's amiss. See what you can find out."

The last Good Guide already hovered beside me. She reminded me a little bit of Ivy, with short red hair. But she was much thinner, with bright blue eyes and very pale skin. She was also younger than the other Good Guides appeared to be for the most part.

"Polly Tix will be coming along as your Good Guide." the Chief said. "If anyone can figure out the problems of an ancient political system, she's the one. Good luck, Time Scout Saffron, and...don't swim in any moats." I giggled as I was thrown back to the ninth century.

I stood on a narrow pathway of sand-coloured bricks, with a fence of bricks. I was standing near a man with a crown, but before I could contemplate this, Polly appeared beside me, in between him and me. She grinned. "Know why the chronoskimmer rules, Saffron?" she exclaimed (_I forgot, that's the time travel device whose tunnels we follow, _I remembered). "Cause we always arrive right on time!" Polly joked. "We're in England, 1086, and I'm standing by William the Conqueror."

At this point, said man seemed to notice us. "Hey, you two! Watch your heads, there's a siege going on!"

"A siege?" Polly exclaimed. "That explains all the soldiers outside. We'll help you withstand this siege, King William!" She seemed very high-energy, with a loud clear voice and no shyness whatsoever. As I said, I'm shy around super-confident people and people high up in status, so it took an effort to even say "Hi." to Polly. But I did it of course, continuing as quickly as I could with "So I guess I should talk to him."

I think Polly sensed my discomfort, because she said "_We'll _talk to him. After all, we're in this together, right?" She addressed William with no signs of intimidation at all.

"Hail, friends." he greeted us properly. "At least, I hope you are friends. Those Saxons always seem to be knocking at my gates!"

"Don't worry about that." I spoke up in a small voice. "We're kind of new here."

"What she means to say is, what's going on here?" Polly asked quickly.

After a bunch of questions, we discovered that the item stolen was the Domesday Book, a record of all the people that he ruled, and the Saxons took it as a sign of weakness and revolted. They apparently weren't happy having him ruling because he was foreign. "I burned much of the north country to the ground once," he admitted calmly, "But will they let bygones be bygones? _Nooooo_."

I glanced at Polly to see how she reacted to his nonchalance. She only shrugged and muttered quietly to me "We're supposed to put history back on track. Not all historical figures are angels, but we're not supposed to change history by trying to make them be better people."

I hesitantly asked if we could help. William seemed very happy with my question. "Ah, a noble offer!" he said in a pleased tone. "I have a secret passage out of my castle. Squeeze through it and go find my barons and lords, and tell them my soldiers need some bread." He opened the passage and I gave an exclamation at the scrap of paper that lay there.

I picked it up. "It's a Carmen Note!" Polly exclaimed. (Yes, she exclaims things a lot.) "The thief must have slipped through this secret passage."

"No shit." I muttered under my breath, then I forced a smile. "Sorry, I just hate Carmen's notes. They're always so cryptic and drive me crazy until I get all the pieces. Like this one for example – _Grab the Domesday Book my liege, then slip away before the siege! _How is that supposed to help?"

Polly looked at me in a way I didn't like. "It'll come clearer once you find all the pieces of the note, you know that."

"Yeah." I admitted, feeling awkward. "I do." I tried to smile. "I'm just a silly impatient tween."

The self-insult worked, and Polly laughed as we went through the secret passage, and found someone in a mansion. When questioned, he said he was called Baron Du Pont and this was his turf.

"Could you possibly help us?" I ventured.

"Help you?" he exclaimed, sounding horrified. "But I am a noble man! It is very uncommon for me to help commoners."

"We're actually on an errand for the king." Polly spoke up. "His troop needs more supplies – bread, to be exact."

"For the king?" said Baron Du Pont. "Why didn't you say so? The feudal system requires that I help him out, but I know little of petty activities like making bread. Here is a list of my subjects. Perhaps one of them could help." He gave us a scroll with six names on it.

After looking at it, I whispered "Are their last names supposed to tell me anything?" to Polly.

"In these times, people were named after their craft." she answered. "So Robert Baker would be the person we're looking for."

Baron Du Pont called him, and he zipped forward straightaway, (very computer-game-ish, which reassured me I'd get home), and said "Salutations, dear Baron, may I help you?"

"Can you make bread for the king's best troops?" was asked of him.

"I'd love to bake some bread, but I am flourless, and thus powerless. Do you have any flour?" the baker asked.

"No flour?" said Baron Du Pont. He turned to us. "Check with the lord down the road. As I am a baron and he is only a lord, the feudal system requires that he help me out."

So we had to go down the road to ask Lord Maynard for flour. Then we had to call one of his peasants, that one being John Miller.

We brought that back to Robert Baker, who made the bread, which we gave back to King William. "That was kind of easy." I remarked to Polly.

"Don't be so sure." she muttered.

**The rest of the mission will be in the next chapter! Review! I know people are reading this, so why can't they review? Come on, guys! Please review!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Here's the rest of the mission! Enjoy it! And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!**

I realized what Polly meant only after we had to make two more trips and call upon four more peasants. We had to get swords and arrows for the troops as well. The blacksmith needed a new barrel to make the swords, first, then the fletcher needed feathers. By the time Anne Hunter had gotten her feathers, both of us were pretty bored. I perked up a little bit when I picked up the feathers, and a bit of paper with the feathers crackled. I passed the paper to Polly and she immediately exclaimed "Superific! You scored a shred of the Carmen Note!"

"What does it say?" I asked.

"_Be sure to act in feudal manner, and keep an eye out for a banner."_

"OK, that may help." I said, a little less confused. "The thief is hiding behind a banner."

Thank goodness the arrows were the last thing the troops needed. But King William was OK, really. The siege was soon over, and he invited both of us to a feast that evening, and that's where the banners were, and so was the last piece of the Carmen Note.

I read out the whole thing. "_Grab the Domesday book my liege, then sneak away before the siege! Be sure to act in feudal manner, and keep an eye out for a banner. It tells the fabric of a story – how William won his English glory!"_

"Fantabulous!" Polly said brightly – too brightly for her to be genuinely happy. "I'll activate the Time Cuffs!"

"OK, so there's a banner on the wall, right?" I said. "Does that tell the right story?"

"Good thinking!" Polly confirmed. "The Bayeux tapestry is the story banner telling how King William conquered England."

With that, she pulled the banner out, and out fell Carmen's latest crook.

"We've slapped the cuffs on that wily warmonger – General Mayhem!" Polly announced, before we were swirled back into the time tunnels.

"No more warmongering for you, General Mayhem! You're heading back to ACME!" Polly said.

"I'll just have to try a new campaign while stationed in the slammer!" he said. Suddenly he kind of looked at me in a strange way, and said "You. Carmen was right." I worried over what that meant, but I couldn't think about it for long. I had one more problem, and it wasn't connected to Carmen or her criminals. No, it was about the youngest Good Guide.

Polly was the first Good Guide not to say anything to me while I hovered in the time tunnels. Even as the Chief congratulated me and then promoted me from Time Scout to Time Trooper, I felt cold. I got the feeling that Polly didn't like me. Not at all. All the other Good Guides had seemed to like me, especially the first two. I thought Ann was really nice and seemed to be happy to fit in with whatever happened. I'd found Ivan a little overly happy at first, but the one mission had given me a sort of little-sister relationship with him. Rock was just a really nice guy. I just didn't have enough common ground with him to connect like I had to the other two. The way I related to Renee was a little different. I liked her, she was friendly, but there just seemed to be a world between us. So of course I was a little unhappy that Polly didn't seem to like me, even though she was professional and did the usual praising that each Good Guide was meant to do.

Finally, the Chief asked if I'd like to begin a new case straightaway, now as a Trooper. "What do you say?"

I couldn't help being doubtful. "I think I'll need to take a break before I start on a new case." I said quietly.

"That's fine." said the Chief. "Are you going to go home or stay in ACME headquarters?"  
"Is it possible to board here until Carmen herself is caught?" I asked. I had no home to go to! This was just a game! Right?

"That is completely fine with me." the Chief said. I decided that I liked working for ACME. The Chief was pretty nice to me, especially considering she was my boss.

As I lay on the mattress that night, I thought about the time continuum in the game. The game context, I contemplated, was strange. It seemed that the amount of time I stayed in one time conducted how much time passed in the present day. That was interesting. I was in each time period about 3 hours on average, which meant I worked for 9 hours today. I decided to aim for 3 missions each day, even if it was a longer work day than I was used to.

But then I wondered how much time was passing in the real world. Was there no time at all? Was it longer? Was it the same? Finishing the game was probably the only way to find out – by finishing, I'd be able to leave.

I had met all five of the Good Guides, so I wasn't sure who to expect when the Chief told me "You're tunneling to the thirteenth century, where China's Yuan Dynasty is powering up. But the historical link between East and West is missing. Better explore the problem, Trooper Saffron."

This didn't give me much of a clue, as you can tell. But because I would probably have to travel along the Silk Road and through the equivalent of a Chinese desert, the Chief sent Rock, because it was an "unknown realm".

"As usual, he's got your Cuffs, and more background information for you to check out. Remember," she ended, "China is huge, so wear your walking shoes." Finally, I was pulled through the whirlpool of the past and thrown into a new world – to me, at least.

**Next chapter will be up SOON. Mission 6 was the last one I got to when playing the game, so I'm going to have to fully depend on the memories of my friend on the first disc and Youtube. But still, review! Please? I'm begging for just one short review for this chapter!**


	9. Chapter 8

**OK, let's continue with the sixth mission!**

Rock stepped out of the portal into China. "We made it, Saffron!" he said cheerfully. "We're in China in 1271. That year marks the start of the Yuan Dynasty and the reign of Kublai Khan. And look-" he pointed to a a man nearby. "There's the wise Khan right over there!"

I looked at the plumpish Chinese man. He looked very kindly, actually. I could imagine him being a good wise leader.

At that moment, he frowned, the lines making him look extremely ferocious. "The Khan is not pleased!" he said, still sounding calm. "I was looking forward to a visit from the Polos, and now this..."

"Excuse me?" I managed to say, even in the presence of a ruler. "What is wrong?"

The Khan gave a double-take when he saw me and Rock, probably because we didn't look Chinese. But we talked to him, and he explained that the Polos (from Italy) were bringing precious oils, but they were stolen, so they planned to turn back. When Rock asked if we could help, Khan suggested we go to help the Polos, and he would let us travel through his domain to get there faster.

After we'd spoken, I looked at the firecrackers at his feet, and the mulberry tree above him. I had a feeling I was supposed to use those two things. "Do you think I should bring some firecrackers?" I asked Rock.

"I can imagine them being useful, so you could." he answered.

"And...this may sound crazy, but...the mulberry leaves are calling to me to take them, too." I admitted.

Rock looked surprised as I expected, but also impressed. "Mulberry leaves are what silk worms feed on. We'll probably find a weaver at some point, and she may want the leaves. We could take a few of those." So we did take a few firecrackers and several mulberry leaves before walking further up, to Si-ngan-fu, where we did, in fact, meet a woman who spun silk for a living, and needed more mulberry leaves to feed her silk worms. But before that, I spotted something else on her dried out mulberry tree.

"Hey, that's a piece of Carmen's note!" Rock exclaimed. "The thief was here!"

"_In Xanadu did Kublai Khan a stately dome decree," _I read. "OK, as usual, doesn't make sense yet."

We talked to the silk weaver. Apparently she had a bowl and spinning spoon which could have worked as a compass, which annoyed her. She ended up giving us some silk that we had helped provide with the mulberry leaves, which we traded for a regular bowl and spoon with a merchant called Huang, so she gave us the spinning spoon. Not only that, but the thief seemed to have passed him, because another piece of the note was right there.

It said "_Meanwhile, you steal the precious oils from Polo's Italy. When you have them, wait for me (make sure that you're alone,)"_

"These riddles always infuriate me!" I exclaimed. "Anyway, I guess we better keep going."

After swapping the spoon with the silk weaver, we went to the Silk Road, which was basically desert. This was where the spinning spoon came into play. It always pointed the same way, so we knew which direction we were going in. There, we found the last piece of the Carmen Note, which simply said "_In the source of woodless fires – the lair of the Black Stone."_

"It sounds like somewhere where there is coal." I decided.

"Now that the C-Note's complete, I'll activate the Time Cuffs." Rock said with a smile.

And after a long time we finally found the Polos, most notably Marco Polo. (Never knew that he was something other than a watery game before I played this.) We basically heard what we already knew from him. We had to find the oil's that Carmen's crook had stolen. Rock alerted me to a nearby mine which was probably going to be holding coal, but there was one little problem. A Siberian tiger wasn't going to let us pass.

"Yikes!" Rock had exclaimed on seeing it. "I hope we're both ready to earn our stripes."

"Wait!" I said. "Didn't Khan have a jaguar or something that was scared by firecrackers?"

Rock grinned. "You've got it, Saffron! We use them to scare off the tiger!" It was a little cruel, but it did the job, then we could get into the cave and cuff...Jacqueline Hyde?

She looked like any woman, but we soon found out why she had that name. Back at ACME headquarters in the present day, Rock was saying "Let's go, Jacqueline. "

"My dear ACME friends," Jacqueline said meekly, "I know you're only doing your job," then her voice took on a harsh tone and it changed. "But you won't keep me locked up for long, losers!"

"Wanna bet?" I spoke up. Rock smiled at my comment before going to lock up Jacqueline.

"Thanks to you, trade between Europe and Asia will fly." the Chief told me. "Congratulations, Time Trooper Saffron."

But there was one more person who wanted to have her say. "So, you've snagged another of my sidekicks? I'll admit it, you're talented. But you'll never stop my next scheme." Carmen had made another appearance. Calmly she added "You'll need the talent you've already shown, Saffron."

I was left speechless. When did she hear my name? And I was especially scared of this Carmen. The "Where On Earth" Carmen was always calm and composed, but not as cold as this one was.

"Looks like Carmen's causing more crime just ahead in time." the Chief observed. "Can you take the next case now?"

"I'm ready, Chief." I said out loud, though inwardly I hoped the next case wouldn't mean I had to walk too far.

No such luck.

**Well, that's all the cases I've actually played. Next up is one of my least favourites that I know of, the Mali case.**


	10. Chapter 9

**OK, well, I'm sure I can do some interesting stuff with this case, if it's not the most interesting.**

The next case was in West Africa, and that meant I was supposed to be from Mali to Timbuktu. Seriously, that place is so hyped up for being far away in the USA and Australasia, so why isn't it far away from everywhere? But there were good things about the case, in spite of the heat, the walking, and the fact that Timbuktu was pretty disappointing.

"It's the height of the Mali Empire." the Chief told me. It was supposed to be in the fourteenth century. "The pivotal pilgrimage should have hit the road by now, but the problem is, no one's going anywhere! See what you can find out!" It sounded kind of interesting, even if it was as hot as Africa sounds.

My Good Guide was another good thing. "If there's one Good Guide who knows great empires, it's Ann Tickwitee. So look to her for guidance, Time Cuffs and another Chronopedia chapter. Better dress for warm weather, Trooper Saffron. Good luck."

Ann and I stood on the sandy path. "Another day, another time period." she exclaimed. "Good to see you again, Saffron! You've risen in the ranks twice already, wow!"

"It's good to see you too." I said. "But is it always this warm in Mali?"

Ann shrugged. "It's the first time I've been to this continent. I guess the heat is just a welcome to 1324 sunny West Africa." She gestured to a nearby man who was sitting on a horse. "That fabulous-looking man over there is Mansa Musa, emperor of the Mali Empire!"

We had to talk to him first. He said that they were on a journey to, but the salt they needed to survive had been stolen.

"These things make less and less sense!" I exclaimed. "Sure, the Book of The Dead, the Forum, the ship, Murasaki's first chapter, the Domesday Book, the Polo's precious oils, whatever. Now they only took salt? Is Carmen trying to confuse us?"

"Well, all we can do is help them." Ann said, still calm. She was always unfazed and ready for anything. I admired her for that, actually. So we offered to help, as per usual.

"How gracious of you to offer!" Mansa Musa exclaimed. "Take my gold staff, and trade it for the largest block of salt you can find."

We ended up having to go to a man in the jungle, who melted down the gold once we proved that his emperor actually asked us to trade it for salt. He was scared of displeasing Mansa Musa. "What are you trying to do, get me in trouble? I can't melt this down!"

"There's no need to worry." Ann told him reassuringly. "We're on a mission from Musa. He gave us the staff so we could obtain some salt for his journey." That woman definitely had a skill for reassuring people, actually (remember what she told me on the first mission? Her tone is also effective). Although the man was still doubtful, he calmed down.

"I'll need proof." the man said. "Answer these questions, and I'll melt the staff down."

Ann and I mostly had to work together to answer them, but we got them right in the end, and the staff was melted down.

Once he'd done that, we had to trade the gold, of course. It was a long walk from Mali to Timbuktu, but we got there. Seriously, every single one of the missions I'd been on today were full of walking, walking, walking.

At least Ann and I could talk, if nothing else. She even gave me some information on what the other Good Guides had thought, which was nice of her. "I gathered that you and Ivan clicked straightaway." she said. "He said something about seeing you as being like a little sister, albeit a sweet smart one." I had to smile at that. "Rock said he thought you were kind of quiet at first, but you seemed nice and became a bit more outgoing. Renee seemed to like you as well. She said she was fun when you had to try on the kimonos, because it was like you were playing dress-up, and she appreciated that you were able to take on a mission with a sense of fun." She didn't say anything about Polly, and I caught it, but didn't push it.

"So what have you been doing while I was on those missions?" I asked.

"Researching." Ann answered. "All Good Guides do that when they're not working, usually. Otherwise they're busting the random VILE crook that isn't in on Carmen's plan."

"Oh." I said, not knowing what to say to that. "Cool."

When we got to Timbuktu, we had to weigh the gold against a block of salt we could trade. Apparently, salt was worth its weight in gold, so that was pretty easy. Then we went back to Musa's caravan, and he was very pleased to have the salt.

Meanwhile, we'd been getting pieces of the Carmen Note. We found the last one when Musa took off with the salt we'd given him. It had been underneath the hoof of the horse the whole time! It said _In Mali, Africa you'll land, where cities meet the desert sand. For famous salt I have a thirst so check out Musa's convoy first! Ship of the Desert is your ride, the leading one is where you'll hide._

"Isn't the ship of the desert the camel?" I said. "The leading one is just up there!"

"We've busted Buggs Zapper!" Ann exclaimed, with a thumbs up. "He's the electrifying thief everyone's been

buzzing about!" Then we were zapped ourselves, back to now, except it wasn't my now, and I was starting to miss my world.

"All right, Buggs, gig's up." Ann informed him in a Mafia accent. "You're comin' downtown with us."

"You think you're smart, huh?" Buggs groaned. "You and the kid? Get outta here. You won't keep me in the clink for long!"

I glared up at him. "I'm not just some kid." I snapped. "I just busted six of your mates, and I'll bust Carmen too, just you wait!"

For all my talk, though, I was still scared of Carmen, especially this version of Carmen. And I felt a lot less confident about getting to her because I couldn't see the morals her _Where on Earth _counterpart held.

"You've done excellent work, as usual!" the Chief told me. "Can you continue on and take another case?"  
"Sure I can!" I said cheerfully, ready for action. "I'm up for anything, Chief!"

**I'm looking forward to the next mission. Our favourite 'bro' is back to be a Good Guide to the 'little sis' first met in Rome! Review, please!**


	11. Chapter 10

**OK, Mission 8 is up. Enjoy, and don't forget to review!**

The next mission was pretty good. I didn't have to walk too far, and my Good Guide wasn't Polly, the former point immediately putting it above the last case.

"You're moving on to Germany in the fourteen-hundreds," the Chief explained. "Birthplace of mechanical printing. The first edition of a very important book should be on the shelves by now, but it's nowhere to be found. Time for a title search, Time Trooper Saffron!"  
My Good Guide hovered beside me. It was Ivan, this time, which was good. He grinned at me.

"Good luck," said the Chief, "And don't forget to read the fine print."

We emerged in the corner of a printing shop, where a man in inky purple robes stood, looking gloomy.

"Time travelling sure beats taking the bus, huh, Saffron?" Ivan joked.

"Especially since the bus goes the wrong way – forward!" I answered. "So this is the world's first printing shop?"

"Uh-huh. That's Johann Gutenberg, over there."

At that moment, Gutenberg said in a tearful tone "My master work has been stolen! Gone before the ink was dry, and look at this mess. There's ink and printing type everywhere! I'll be the laughing stock of Mainz."

Ivan addressed him. "Johann, my man, your troubles are over. Me and Saffy are on the case."

"Oh, so I'm Saffy now?" I said with a smile.

"Hey, can't a guy give a faux kid sister a nickname?" Ivan said, matching my smile.

"Faux sister, sure." I teased. "But I'm real enough, so of course you're OK to. OK, guess we better get the facts of the case." Then my eyes caught some paper hanging on the wire where trying parchment hung. "Look, isn't that-"

"A piece of the C-Note!" Ivan exclaimed. "At this rate, it'll be Carmen who's hanging out to dry before long!"

This one said "_Before I come to bring you home, you'll snatch the world's first typed-up tome!"_

Before I talked to Gutenberg, I had a look around. Ivan knew tons about the printing press, so he told me some of it when I asked questions. Gutenberg added in some stuff too, so I thought I better start talking to him.

He explained that his Bible – the first printed book in Europe – was stolen, and that he needed to make a poster to warn people about the thief. He needed lampblack to make the ink, though. So the two of us went out to search for it. It was quite literally soot from a burned-out oil lamp we needed. The shopkeeper who owned it said we could have it. We also found a piece of the Carmen Note, reading "_Make your V.I.L.E swipe when the time is ripe."_

We gave the sooty lamp to Gutenberg. He decided we should be the ones to make the notice. He'd done some of it, but he needed to mix the ink up while we continued to put the letters in.

I had to read the mirror-imaged letters. "So far he's got 'Notice, on the loose. _b_ _s_n, If found return to J Gutenberg, beware.' Obviously the first word with blanks is thief."

"By the way, the next bit is 'Bible stolen'." Ivan said. "We better find the right letters." We slotted the right letters into the place, and made the notice.

"Well done!" exclaimed Gutenberg. "Let's have a look at the notice." It was perfect, and Gutenberg was thrilled.

"This notice is quite perfect!" he exclaimed. "Just give me a minute to print up a tall stack." He was out to put the notices wherever they could be, well, noticed. And behind him, he left-

"It's the third piece of the C-Note!" exclaimed Ivan. "Let's decode this baby."

I read the whole note. "The last piece says '_Then hide by the major metal in Johann's printing type'."_

"Before you work out what that is, I'll activate the Time Cuffs." Ivan said. "Have you worked it out yet?"

"For your information, chemistry is not my strong point!" I said, unable to work it out.

Ivan laughed. "Saffy, it's not rocket science. The answer's lead, anyway."

"That shopkeeper had lead, didn't he?" I said, the answer dawning on me. "That's where they are."

"Elemental!" Ivan said. "That's completely right." We easily cuffed the crook, and Ivan cheered. "We busted Jane Reaction!"

Then we were swirled back into the time portal.

"Your runaway reaction days are over, Jane!" Ivan informed the redhead. "You're going on ice, at ACME."

"Dream on, you two." Jane said coldly. "You've got me under control for now, but there's a meltdown coming soon and her name is Carmen Sandiego!"

"I'm SO scared." I said sarcastically, although Carmen did actually frighten me. Her quiet confidence was intimidating, and I was scared of her because her air was mysteriously dark.

"And I'm pretty sure she'll want to speak to you." Jane snapped, glaring at me.

I knew it. Carmen had some kind of obsession that was something to do with me chasing her. I couldn't tell why, but I tried to push it to the back of my mind. I couldn't lose my nerve, otherwise I couldn't leave the game!

Ivan grinned quickly at me and whispered "See you not too much later, sis." with a laugh before flying off to jail Jane. I giggled too.

The Chief enthusiastically congratulated me for helping Gutenberg and cuffing Jane. "Way to go! Work like that deserves a reward. Hey, can you handle a promotion?"  
"Really?" I exclaimed. "I'd just gotten used to my last promotion, being a Trooper. But wow, yes I can."

"Good!" the Chief said. "Because now you're a Time Detective!" Then she frowned. "You've gotten all of Carmen's crooks that were causing trouble, but there's still Carmen herself to catch. Also, she was seen with Dee Cryption, who hasn't been caught. There's something strange going on. I'll look into it. For now, you can finish work for today, if you want."

I'd worked three cases, and walking through China and Mali was tiring. OK, my last case was a walk in the park, but I was tired, so I eagerly took the chance, although I didn't show my happiness at finishing for the day.

It was odd, I thought. All the time periods felt different. You could tell that China was a more tourist-friendly place back in the Juan dynasty than it was today. People didn't stare at me. My friend Amy had told me that they were more wary of Europeans and Americans like her when she visited Beijing. Mali was actually quite friendly, considering their emperor was pretty nice. Germany was not as friendly and very serious, but not bad. Whatever, anyway, I was too tired to think about it for long, and it was getting late, so I went to sleep.

**The jailbreak is next, but I'm putting a bit of a Saffron spin on it. Review, please!**


	12. Chapter 11

**OK, Saffron's back and so is Carmen.**

"Attention, agents and Good Guides!" I blinked blearily, still half-asleep. The Chief's voice was blaring out of an intercom. "Carmen Sandiego has broken all her sidekicks out of prison, and she still has the Chronoskimmer. She just sent all of them back in time again."

I groaned, waking up properly. "That means I have to go cuff them all _again_?"

That's when I noticed something crackling under my elbow. A crumpled sheet of paper had been placed on my mattress, and I recognized the hand writing.

_Congratulations on your promotion to Detective, Saffron. So sorry I didn't have time to stay and talk, but I'm sure there'll be plenty of time to spare, especially after I pull off the rest of Project History Sweep. I'll see you soon._

I gasped. Carmen had left me a note in particular. "Did anyone else get a note from Carmen?" I asked. The other agents shook their heads, even Ivy, who was still there. I'd have thought Carmen would leave something to her, of all people. I wondered why Carmen wanted to taunt me like that. That was one part of her personality that was in "Where On Earth..." but I didn't know why she'd do that to a pre-teen that was clearly intimidated by her. Maybe it was because her motives for these time crimes were more important than just a few thrills, and she wanted to psych me out completely. I had to continue the job, though. How else would I get home?

"We've reinforced the jail with laser bars, so another jailbreak won't happen!" the Chief's voice continued. "But meanwhile, the crooks must be recaptured!"

It wasn't too early, only five thirty, so I decided to get ready straightaway and run down to start on my first mission of the day.

It was going to be in the Andes, at the time of the Inca Empire. "Something strange has happened in the accounting!" the Chief told me. "You'll have to sort out this knotty problem."

My Good Guide was Ann again. "When you're visiting the centre of a great empire, she's the Good Guide you want on your side." the Chief explained. "Good luck, Detective, and don't get lightheaded with all that mountain air."

I couldn't help it that I did feel a little lightheaded at first. I got used to it after a minute, though.

Ann grinned. "Hi, Saffron. Remember how I said time travelling gives me a head rush? Well, so does the altitude here. But while I recover, I can say that it's 1460 and over there is Emperor Pachacuti Yupanqui."

"Disney definitely did their homework." I muttered under my breath. Their film _The Emperor's New Groove _was set around this time and while they named their main character after the legendary city Cusco, only changing the first C to a K and the S to a Z, I could detect similarities in other names from this emperor.

"May the mighty sun scorch the demon's eyeballs! Someone has stolen my quipus!" he exclaimed suddenly. "All of our records are lost, and the empire will fall apart without them."

That's when I noticed something on the ground. "Hey, that's a Carmen Note!" Ann exclaimed. "The thief was here!"

"_Pachacuti's tears and sweat have made his reign the greatest yet." _I read. "Not much help, but I guess it'll help once I've got the rest of that note."

I was starting to get over my shyness with emperors and queens, in spite of the fact that I still couldn't hear from Carmen without getting the shivers. So I was able to approach Emperor Pachacuti and ask him what the problem was and how Ann and I could help. The quipus he mentioned were records of everyone and everything in the Inca Empire. When we asked if we could help, he suggested helping out the royal accountants, so that was what we went to work on.

We had to count and record the amount of goods in each place on a counting frame. Ann had a superhuman counting speed, so she zipped into each hut and I recorded the number of each. The way to explain how many of each good was in there was confusing at first, but I worked it out after three wrong tries at the first one.

After that, we had to take out 149 potatoes to take to the llamas who were transporting goods and then re-record the number of potatoes in the hut. Meanwhile, the Carmen Notes were taking ages to find. After getting the spuds to the llamas, Ann picked up a scrap that read _But none of these have quite the glint of something useful in a mint._

When we finally found the last part of the Carmen Note, we found that the thief was meant to _Hide beneath Tears Of The Moon._

"Don't tell me what it means, please." I requested. "Can you sort of...lead me to the answer?"

Ann smiled understandingly. "I guess it's helpful to learn. OK."

"Well," I admitted, "I like learning all about these time periods."

"OK," said Ann, "What colour is the moon?"

"Silvery grey." I said, puzzled. "So the tears of the moon are silver-" The penny dropped. "It's silver!" I exclaimed. "So where is the sack of silver?"

It was next to the nearest llama, actually. Ann cuffed the redhead I remembered to be Jane Reaction. "Time for a high-energy high five!" Ann said brightly, just before we were sucked back into the present.

"You're headed back to the ACME lockup, Jane! And with it's new laser bars, you won't be escaping again!" Ann told the crook harshly (She really seemed to enjoy the capture more than the other Good Guides, which was strange, since she was so softly spoken and gentle the rest of the time).

Jane groaned. "Ugh, you've caught up with me again, agents!" she exclaimed. "But you'll never accelerate fast enough for a collision with Carmen!"

I smiled confidently at her, although I didn't feel that way. "Could you get Carmen to tell me that herself, if that's true?" I asked sweetly.

Jane knew I was mocking her, but she only glared at me as she was jailed. The Chief congratulated me, and then asked me to take on another case. I frankly couldn't wait.

**Next is the Columbus case! Review, please!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Yay, let's go to the New World now.**

"You're speeding towards the coast of Spain." the Chief explained. Basically, I had to find out why explorer Christopher Columbus hadn't returned from his travels when he found the New World, or America.

Since I was going to have to do my own exploring, my Good Guide was Rock. The Chief wished me good luck, and then Rock and I were throne into a room, only metres away from the Senora Queen Isabella.

"She earned a place in history by supporting the explorations of Christopher Columbus." Rock told me.

"Wow." I exclaimed. "Amazing. And if that hadn't happened, America wouldn't have been discovered so soon."

Rock addressed Queen Isabella, who explained that Columbus was lost at sea, looking for a Western passage to China from Europe which was faster than the Eastern passage already discovered. When asking how to help, she asked us to follow him, even advising us on the winds and the current.

"Well, I suppose we'd better get ready for the trip." I spoke up after that. I had hung back a little bit at first, but Queen Isabella was fairly approachable, and I didn't mind talking to her.

"Good luck crossing the vast ocean." she said. "May the wind and current always be at your back!" We thanked her and went on our way.

The thief seemed to have left part of the Carmen Note in the harbour. It was floating in a bottle nearby, reading _When the crime is done use all your smarts to sneak inside the Room of Charts._

"Oh no!" I exclaimed, realizing something. "I think the crook is here. Did you see how many charts Queen Isabella had in her room? I bet that's where he or she is. We have to find Columbus first, but how can we do both?"

"Don't worry." Rock reassured me. "Carmen always waits until the last minute to get the loot, that is if she cares about it. If she doesn't, she probably won't turn up until she's sure we can't find her thief."

I knew that about the "Where on Earth..." Carmen, but I had my doubts about this one. Finding Columbus was our most important thing to do, and that's what we'd do.

Navigating wasn't too hard with some help from the map and compass. It actually took days to reach America, where Columbus and his crew were heatedly discussing how to get back to Spain.

I pretended to survey the situation, then I turned to Rock. "Is it me, or did I see this happen before?"

"I'm sure you're right, fellow Norse woman." Rock joked. "But the same situation in a different time doesn't mean a Thing."

I laughed. "Of course not."

We talked to Columbus, who claimed that we were in China, even when I said gently that we'd been to China, and this definitely wasn't it.

"Are you sure that we aren't in an entirely new place, previously undiscovered?" I asked.

"I would test your interesting theory against my maps, but they've been stolen." Columbus replied. That was why they hadn't been able to get home – because the thief had stolen the maps and gotten away by stealing one of the ships. It was a good thing they had an extra one – our one.

It would have been a lot easier to get Columbus home if he'd bothered to look at our own map. He just brushed me off, saying "Sorry, but I'm far too busy to sign autographs, Miss. Look me up once I've found a way to return to Spain."

I stared at him, my face flushing red with anger. I couldn't stand people like him. Leif had angered me when he undermined me for being a girl, but Columbus angered me more, simply because he undermined me because he couldn't see anything past himself.

"I'll have you know that I don't want your stupid autograph!" I said furiously, unable to stop yelling. "What I want is for you to look at this map, because it'll get you home!"

That was a waste of breath, because he didn't even hear me. I had to put it in the chest and make it seem like he accidentally found it. At least it gave me another piece of the Carmen Note, reading _Finding you will be a snap, if you bring a different map._

Then we had to navigate the whole way home, which didn't take so long, since Columbus and his crew were happy to help. We went back to Queen Isabella, and she was overjoyed to see that her support of Columbus had paid off, after all. As for Rock and I, we found the last Carmen Note, which explained that the map we were looking for would have the New World on it.

"I'll fire up the Time Cuffs!" called Rock, as I looked and found the map. Dr Belljar had been hiding there the whole time.

Back in the present, Rock was ready to jail him. "You've brought the wind out of this doctor's sails," Belljar sighed, "But I'll doubt if you'll put Carmen in jail!"

I was getting sick of hearing the same thing every time I jailed someone. Although I privately was unsure about whether I would get to Carmen, I simply glared at Belljar and said "Can you get any more cliché than that? 'You've got me, but you won't get her'? That's so getting old now."

Rock went off to imprison Belljar before he could answer, throwing me a quick grin of acknowledgment. Belljar was scowling, but he didn't yell anything as he was taken off.

As usual, the Chief was very pleased with me. I had been away for weeks in both time periods, but I still had the energy to take on one more case before I needed any more sleep. After all, I'd slept a bit on the ship. Rock and I had taken turns on the way there, and then left some of it to Columbus on the way back. But I'd go and take on one more case before anything else. So I said yes immediately when the Chief asked me "Can you take another case?"

**I don't like the next two cases much. Personally, my favourites are right near the end (although you'll see a little more of Polly and Saffron clashing in one case) but I'll make it as interesting as possible.**


End file.
